Maine voters say no to gay marriage
It is a well known fact that voters in the New England area of our country are more independent than most and tend to vote more on the liberal side of the political spectrum. That statement is not meant to be a slam towards those voters, just an observation. When the Maine legislature voted in a state law to legalize same-sex marriage, it’s implementation was delayed because a voter referendum was launched in an effort to repeal the law.
I have not written about this voter referendum, but I have watched it closely. Millions of dollars were spent by both sides of the issue and to be honest, I expected it would fail. If voters in any state in the United States were to approve same-sex marriage, it would probably have been in Maine or the surrounding states. Imagine my surprise when the election results showed the referendum had passed with 53% of the vote. Opponents of the measure had pushed for a no vote, saying it was necessary to protect the marriage equality of all of Maine’s citizens. That argument has been used over and over, and proponents of the practice have tried their best to tie their efforts to the African-American struggle for equality in this country. Evidently, the voters did not agree.
It is worth noting that 31 states have had such referendums on same-sex marriage and the practice has been rejected in all 31 states. Five states, including Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont,and Connecticut have legalized same-sex marriage, but none have done so through the voters. Court rulings and legislative actions have been used to allow the practice. California allowed same-sex marriage because of a court ruling until voters rejected it last year.
Is there not a trend here? In every state where the legislature or the courts have tried shoving same-sex marriage down our throats, it has been soundly rejected. Maine voters continued that trend yesterday and I have to wonder why. Are voters rejecting the practice of same-sex marriage itself or are they rejecting the idea that the courts and the legislature can force it upon us without our consent? I believe it may be a bit of both.
I have to say that I am a little surprised that this was voted down. But then again, there was an effort by a Massachusetts group to get the gay marriage issue put on the ballot. They follwed all of the rules and according to the Massachusetts constitution the state was constitutionally reguired to put the question on the ballot. One of Governor Patrick’s first moves as governor was to kill this measure. He did this illegally according to the state constitution. Needless to say the state Supreme Court did not interveine, My point is that I suppose even in Massachusetts the government was afraid of the results if this had gone to the people. That tells me that even in New England the support for gay marriage just might not be there.
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I too, was shocked that it was voted down. I really thought it would pass. Evidently, the support for gay marriage is lacking, something that some of our politicians are not willing to acknowledge.
I was a little surprised as were my parents who live in Maine. However, the “only” liberals in Maine are coming from Massachusetts. Mr. Pink Eyes will know this to be true but the mass migration of Massachusetts residence to Maine and New Hampshire has proven to be very negative. And the gay marriage is one of those issue that many liberals in Mass are just insistent on spreading to other states. I was actually surprised to learn that NH has gay marriage thanks to the politicians/courts.
My parents were actually very concerned that the vote would be down because people were showing up to vote and finding out someone had already “used” their vote; there was no verification of individuals voting – my dad actually called his elected official and complained; and people were being bussed in from all over the place.
Despite that, Mainers said no! Way to go Maine!
My dad told me tonight this is the third time they have voted on this issue and he has no doubt that they will be voting on it again….and again.
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I did not realize Maine voters had already considered this issue, Dominique. It makes me wonder why Maine is so intent on continuing to bring it before their citizens. It looks like they would have gotten the message by now that the support is not there for homosexual marriage.